Two Wars
by sam81609
Summary: [Sequel to Another War Begins]Trust is tested, friendships waver, and two wars are going on, one on the battle field, and one within themselves…
1. Problems Already Starting

I'm back! If you're reading this, I hope you've already read _Another War Begins_, otherwise you're really not going to understand what's going on. If you haven't read it yet, than look the story up on my profile, read that, _then_ come back to this. If you have read _Another War Begins_, then disregard all of what I just said and start reading. Happy reading! Oh, and for those who don't know, **I don't own Witch**

* * *

**Chapter 1**- Problems Already Starting

**Irma's POV**

Irma Lair blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and glared at the board. She was tired of being in school all the time, she had more important things she could be doing than sitting here listening to Mr. Collins talk about the Queen of Switzerland, or whatever he was talking about. She doodled on her notebook cover and looked back at the board. She looked at the clock and was disappointed to see they still had twenty minutes left of class. _This is cruel and unusual_, she thought, _I have about a million things I could be doing, but no, I'm here, listening to Mr. Collins babble! That's unfair_

Irma squirmed in her seat and looked around boredly. She'd been a bit hyper lately as it was, and now here she was, stuck in class, and she felt worse than ever. She squirmed a little more. Lately she just hadn't felt settled with _anything_. She shot the clock another glare. Twenty five minutes. She sighed and turned back to her notebook.

_There is so much more I could be doing right now_, she thought, _I could be at home watching the episodes of Boy Comet that I taped. I could be having a snack. I could be visiting Will…now that I think about it, scratch that one off my list, something tells me Will doesn't want visitors. Of course, her mom wont let her come to the phone, so I don't know!_

She sighed and looked back at her notebook. With everything that had happened in her life lately, she was surprised a little hyperness was all she had to deal with. She squirmed again and grabbed her pen. A little before school ending doodling never hurt anyone, and maybe she would settle down a little. She cast Taranee a glance and saw that the fire guardian was scribbling notes busily in her notebook. She sighed and went back to her own notebook. _The school bit is getting old, _she thought bitterly as the bell rang. She stood up and made right for the door. She was going to make one more attempt to talk to Will before completely giving up. She told Hay Lin her plan as the two walked out of school.

"Anything to get her to the door, huh?" Hay Lin said with a smile, "We do need to talk to her, it's been a week since, well…"

"Yea, I know", Irma said with a shrug, "A talk is long overdue I assure you"  
The girls talked the until they got to the point of intersection. Irma turned down the road that led to Will's, and Hay Lin turned down the road to home.

"Good luck!" she called over shoulder. Something told Irma she was going to need more than luck.

* * *

"Hi Mrs. Vandom", she said in the cheeriest voice she could muster, "May I please talk to Will?"

"Nice to see you again Irma", Mrs. Vandom said, letting the girl in, "Just hang on a sec, let me see if she's awake"

Irma flopped down on the couch. _Pretty cheery for a woman who almost died in a car accident, _she thought. She quickly shook her head of the thought.

"She's in her room Irma", Mrs. Vandom said behind her, "I think she'll be grateful for the company"

"Thanks Mrs. V", Irma said cheerily as she made her way down the hall to Will's room. She peaked in around the door, "Hey!"

"Hmn?" Will looked around wearily, "Oh, hey Irma, I thought my mom was joking when she said someone was here to see me"

"No joke!" Irma said in her cheeriest voice possible, "I'm real! So how you feeling?"

"Fine…"  
Irma's cheeriness died away instantly, "No you're not", she said quietly, "Look, I know what happened scared you--"

"Scared me?" she laughed hollowly and sat up, "Irma, I almost died, not much can scare me anymore"

"How much does your mom know?" Irma asked.

"Nothing past I ran away because I felt like I messed everything up here", she said, "You never showed her the note did you?"

"I wasn't there when your mom found out", Irma admitted, "I was laying into Cornelia. Hay Lin and Taranee told your mom. They said they never showed her the note"

"I figured as much"

"Listen Will--"

"Just say what you came over to say Irma"

"Well…" Irma hesitated, "The girls and I are…kind of waiting for next call"

"What?"

"You're still our leader", Irma pointed out, "And we still have a mission. So what should we do?"

"I'm no leader", Will said, laughing hollowly, "I dunno what you're talking about Irma"

"Will, listen--"

"Look Irma", Will said sternly, "A lot's happened. Phobos came back, we found out Elyon was truly against us, and everything else. We've done nothing but fight for I don't know how long, can you really still call us a team? After what happened, are we even still friends? Don't give me that look", she said, catching the look on Irma's face; she was shocked Will was talking like this, "You know I'm telling the truth. You know you've wondered about the exact same thing for a long time. Maybe I've just wondered longer"

"Fine", Irma said after a minute of silence, standing up, "Fine. You think like that. Even with every bump we've hit in our lives as guardians, I never once questioned our friendship. I've occasionally wondered if maybe something was wrong between the five of us, but I never truly questioned whether or not our friendship was truly on the lines of dying. I don't know how you can. Sure, I've wondered if something was wrong. I've wondered if maybe dealing with Cornelia was a lost cause. But I never questioned whether or not our friendship really existed. You sit there, you think like that. I won't. And I know the others don't either"

She stormed out of Will's room before the red-head could say another word, and slammed the door as she left the apartment. Will's words had stirred something in her though. _Maybe she's right, _Irma thought as she made her way home, _Maybe our friendship really doesn't exist. Maybe it is a lost cause. How in the world did this happen?_

At least she knew the answer to that question. It had started when they became guardians. They'd fought monster, battled Phobos, and held evil at bay. But through all of that, there had been a bump. A bump in their friendship. It'd really started with Cornelia. She didn't think Will was a good leader, and was constantly arguing with her. That didn't help much for the team. After their last battle with Phobos, Cornelia had gone into hiding. Phobos had turned the love of her life, Caleb, into a flower, and it had devastated her. But it had also, in a way, turned her against her friends. She'd started yelling at them whenever they tried to talk to her, slammed doors in their faces, and treated them like the enemy. While the other girls thought she was just upset, Irma thought she was over exaggerating. Caleb was turned into a flower. It was sad, yes, but that didn't make them the enemy. They had simply tried to help. But stubborn old Cornelia had blasted them left and right. Then, to make matters worse, right as they had started getting their friendship back on track, they'd discovered a horrible secret. Elyon, their friend, and Queen of Meridian, had been a spy. She'd been sent to Earth by Phobos to try and find the guardians. Before she could finish her work though, she had to return to Meridian. But she kept up her shield that she was still good. It'd been an all-around accident the girls found out, but they still found out. Will had wanted to write it off as another lost cause case, and the other girls had gotten mad at her for it. Hay Lin and Taranee didn't like how Will could blow something off like that, Irma didn't like Will's attitude about it, and Cornelia didn't like how Will wouldn't even try to help Elyon, who had been Cornelia's best friend. While Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin had made up with Will quickly, though, Cornelia had held her grudge, and, in the process, said a lot of mean things to Will. She'd ended up telling Will she hated her, and of course, that upset Will. They finally made up after a lot of commotion (in which Will almost died), but evidently Will didn't forget that easily.

"How could she say those things?" Irma thought out loud, "Our friendship isn't a lost cost. Sure, we hit some bumps here and there, and yea, a lot has changed in our lives. But that doesn't mean we aren't still friends. Does it?"

"I dunno Miss", said a kid from behind her, "But I really don't care either. Do you mind speeding it up, my grandmother walks faster than you, and she's in a wheelchair!"

* * *

"What do you think Hay Lin?" it was later that night. Irma had called Hay Lin after supper and recounted everything that had happened at Will's.

"I dunno", Hay Lin said, "Maybe it was just Will being worried. I think it was her feelings talking, not Will herself""I suppose…"

"Try asking Taranee, she's better with people's feelings than I am", Hay Lin suggested

"Her family went out tonight, remember?" Irma reminded her, "I'll ask her tomorrow though, good idea"

"You're welcome"

"I've got to go Hay Lin, see ya later"

"All right, bye", Irma hung up feeling worse then ever. Will's words still buzzed in her mind like angry bees. Their friendship wasn't lost. If she knew one thing, it was that their friendship wasn't lost. "I'm going out!" she called, grabbing her jacket as she made for the front door.

"This late?" her mother asked.

"I'm just going of a friend's house", she said, "I'll be back in a bit"

She left before her mom could say another word. It was chilly night, the wind was blowing and a promise of rain was in the air. That didn't stop her though. The rain didn't daunt her, she was the water guardian after all, water was her life. Besides, it wasn't a long walk to Cornelia's apartment.

* * *

"Hi Mrs. Hale", she said as cheerily as she could, "Is Cornelia busy?"

"No, she's in her room", Mrs. Hale said, smiling gently, "Go on up if you'd like"

"Thanks", Irma bounced into the apartment, bounded past Lillian, Cornelia's annoying sister, and stopped in front of Cornelia's bedroom door, knocking cheerily, "Cornelia!"

"Irma?" Cornelia's surprised sounding voice carried out. A second later the door flew open, and Irma was left facing a rather surprised looking earth guardian, "What are you doing here?" she asked suspiciously.

"Can't a girl come and say hi to her friend?" Irma questioned innocently, "When did that become against the law?"

"It isn't", Cornelia admitted, letting Irma into her room, "Or I don't think it is, laws change all the time…"

"Right", Irma said distantly, "Anyways, down to business, I wanna talk to you--"

"Great"

"We need to get back on track", Irma said, ignoring the interruption, "I know I'm the last person to be saying this, but Hay Lin and Taranee don't want to take responsibility, and Will would be just as happy forgetting any of this guardian deal ever happened"

"She's not the only one", Cornelia muttered, "How is Will anyways?"

"She's better", Irma said with a shrug, "Shaken, obviously, but other than that, fine. She wants to throw in the leader towel though. Which is why I am here. We still have a job to do, and in order to do it, we all have to be on board. And that includes you Cornelia. I know you're upset about Caleb, but life does still go on--"

"What do you know?" Cornelia snapped, whirling around to face her, "Huh? If you came over to try and help me, you're doing a lousy job at it!"

Irma stared at her, bewildered, _Why is it, _she thought, _My mouth can never get out what I want to say the right way?.!_

"I didn't mean it like that", she stuttered, "I-I, just meant that you can't keep avoiding us, and…and reality, I--"

"So now I'm avoiding reality?"

"No!" Irma said, her temper rising, "Nothing like that! I just meant that we need your help, so you have to snap out of it already!"

"The last time I helped you", Cornelia said evenly, "I found out my best friend is a traitor. So give me one good reason why I should help you now"

"Because it's your job", Irma pointed out quietly.

"Well someone else can have it", she snapped, "I'm sick of this job!"

"So what, you're going to quit on us, is that it?" Irma asked angrily, "I came over to try and talk to you, what a waste of time that was! I'm just going to leave you to mope over your silly flower then!"

"_Don't you talk about Caleb like that_!" Cornelia yelled, "Get out of here Irma! Now!"

"My pleasure!" Irma shot back. She stormed out of her so-called friend's room, slamming the door as she did so.

"What's going on up there?" Mr. Hale asked as Irma made for the front door.

"Nothing of great importance", Irma said as patiently as she could, "Good bye Mr. and Mrs. Hale"  
It was all she could do to keep from slamming the door. How had a simple job to help a friend gone so terribly wrong? Cold air whipped Irma's face as she walked, and rain drops started beating down on her. She ignored it though, and didn't head straight home like she should of. She didn't have a general direction of where to go, so she just sort of walked, mulling over everything that had happened. She's just wanted to help Cornelia, and now the blonde girl really hated her. _Well who needs her! _Irma thought furiously, _She's too over-sensitive, she took everything I said and twisted it! All I wanted to do was help, and look what happens! _

After about half an hour of angry thoughts, she headed home. She was wet from rain, and immediately changed into her pajamas when she got inside so that she wouldn't catch a cold. Her parents hadn't seen her soaking wet, so she was off the hook. She flopped down on her bed, wondering what Hay Lin and Taranee would say when they found out about the disastrous conversation she'd had with Cornelia. Hay Lin's voice drifted into her mind.

_What were you thinking Irma? You know she's in a bad state right now, and you went and made it worse! You should have let one of us talk to her, you guys didn't even get along when were kids! _

That would be what Hay Lin would say. That Irma was crazy for trying to talk to Cornelia. What about Taranee?  
_Well, your heart was in the right place Irma, but maybe you should have let one of us talk to her , you know you two don't always get along…_

Yea. Taranee would definitely be nicer about it than Hay Lin. She closed her eyes, imagining what Will would think of what she did.

_What in the world was going on in your head Irma?.! Are you crazy, you know she gets mad at you easily, now things are worse than ever! That was a job well done Irma, very well done…_

Right. Irma's face contorted into anger as she imagined what Will would say. She really had made things worse. She'd done the same thing when the girls tried to talk to Cornelia right after Caleb was turned into a flower. Will had been mad at her then to. Could she help it if Cornelia was impatient? Could she help it if her words never came out the way she wanted them to? No! So why did everyone always get so mad at her? Her mind buzzed with these questions before she finally managed to fall into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

It's gotta be a record. The story is already starting off bad for the girls, and it hasn't even started! Yea, that's right, there are worse things to come, so stay tuned. Review please! 


	2. An Interesting Talk

Okay then! The weekend, my two main updating days, so I'm going to update! Which story am I updating again/scans notes/ Oh yea, two wars. Ok, anyways, lets get moving. Chapter 2 is up, up, and away!

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**Chapter 2- **An Interesting Talk 

**Will's POV**

Will sighed and rolled over as she heard Irma slam the door. She closed her eyes, mulling over the recent conversation. Had she really meant what she said? Even she wasn't sure. She mulled over her thoughts, not even sure what she was thinking about. Her thoughts flashed back to about a week ago. She'd been trying to help Cornelia, and ended up fighting with her. Long story short she'd run away, and almost been killed in a fight, and even worse, for awhile she even thought her friends had abandoned her. It'd really made her think. Not that she knew what she was thinking about any more.

"Hey Will", her mom slipped carefully into her room, "Irma walked out of here kind of mad, is everything okay?"  
"Everything's fine Mom", she muttered, not turning to face her mom, "Don't worry about it"

"You sure?" she asked, sitting on the edge of Will's bed, "You can always talk to me you know"  
_Not about this, _"Don't worry about it", she assured her, "It's nothing. So I get to go back to school tomorrow, huh?"

"I think you've had enough of a vacation", her mother said. she could hear a smile in Susan's voice, "Rest up", she said as she stood to leave, "Tomorrow's gonna be a big day"

* * *

Will walked to Sheffield with her eyes on the ground, kicking a rock along as she walked. She was, in a way, relieved to go back to school. Hanging around at home hadn't been all that great. But she was also dreading it. Not only would she have to face Irma and the others, she was sure Irma had told them about the day before. She'd half considered convincing her mom to let her stay home one more day, but finally decided against it, not wanting to push her luck too far. She pulled herself wearily into the school building, trying to avoid any of her friends at all cost. She saw Hay Lin and Irma out of the corner of her eye, and quickly pulled in the other direction, on her way to class. She fell into her seat just as the first bell rang. She looked around, noticing Cornelia wasn't there. Not a good sign. 

It was basically an average school day. She steered clear of the lunch table at lunch time, and settled for walking around the grounds instead. She didn't have any classes with Hay Lin, Taranee, or Irma, so it was easy to avoid them. By the end of the day she was quite pleased with herself as she walked out of school.

"Will!"  
Before she knew what was happening, she was being tackled from behind as Hay Lin flew into her, wrapping her in a huge hug. "Ack!" she yelled as Hay Lin squeezed her, "Hay Lin, I have to breath!"

"Sorry!" Hay Lin chirped, pulling away. Will looked over Hay Lin's head and saw Taranee and (to her horror) Irma coming up behind her. From the way Hay Lin was acting, either Irma hadn't said anything, or she had and Hay Lin didn't believe her.

"Nice to see you to Hay Lin", she said with a forced smile, "And you Taranee, hey"  
"Glad your back Will", Taranee said with a nod, smiling as well.

Irma muttered something under her breath, but Will chose to ignore it, not wanting to start a fight.

"So have I missed anything?" she asked with a forced casual-sounding voice.

"Nothing more than the usual learning and boredom", Hay Lin shrugged, "All though Uriah did nearly run a teacher over with his bike. He got detention, you shoulda seen the look on his face!"

"And I missed that?" Will asked disbelievingly, "How unfair is that?"  
"Oh give it a rest Will!" Irma snapped suddenly. Will looked around at her quickly. "Drop the mask already", Irma said impatiently, "I told Hay Lin all about what you said, so why don't you just confirm it!"  
Will's cool gaze met Irma's cold one, "I have no clue what you're talking about", she said coolly, turning away.

"So now you're trying to make me out to be a liar?.!" Irma yelled, "Gee thanks Will, so much for friendship. Oh wait, I forgot, you don't believe in friendship, do you-"

"Be quiet Irma!" Will snapped, whirling around, "You're not one to talk about _friendship, _you're here trying to turn all of our friends against me! What kind of friend are you?"  
"I didn't try and turn them against you!" Irma shot back, "I was just telling them what you said so they'd be warned!"

"Right", Will said, breathing hard, "Right. Well next time you have a little get together to talk about me, don't forget to invite me. Actually, I take that back. Do forget to invite me, because I quit!"

And she stormed away without another word.

* * *

Will stormed down the street, furious. How could Irma say those things? She claimed to be Will's "friend", but then to turn around and try and turn Hay Lin and Taranee against her? Some friend she was! It was only then Will noticed the direction she was going. Cornelia's apartment was just around the corner. She was about to turn in the direction of her own apartment, when she suddenly decided to take her chances and talk to the former Earth guardian. 

Her mother buzzed her up and before long, she was standing in front of Cornelia's door. She knocked hesitantly on the door. "Go away Irma!" Cornelia's angry voice came from inside.

"Cornelia, it's Will"

There was a pause, and finally the door opened, "What do you want Will?" she asked, but not in the same cold voice she had used a few seconds earlier.

"I just wanted to…talk", Will said carefully, "From the sound of it, you're mad at Irma to, so if you'd like, we can talk about how much we hate her right now"

Cornelia smirked and let Will into her room, "So what'd Irma do to you?"  
"Long story, you?"  
"Same"

The two exchanged a grin. While Cornelia and Will had never fully gotten along, they did still manage to agree on quite a few counts. Will's eyes shifted to a vase sitting on Cornelia's desk. She realized with great sadness it was Caleb. Cornelia must have seen the look in Will's eyes, because she quickly said, "So, uh…how are you?"  
"I'm--" Will started to say "I'm fine", but it didn't sound right, not even to her, "I don't know", she finally admitted, "How are you?"  
Cornelia gave her a lopsided smile, "Same"

Will rolled her eyes and smiled. She and Cornelia had never fully gotten along, but there were times where they could at least understand each other. Like right then. Everything was quiet for a second, and finally Cornelia said, "So why are you here?"  
"What?" Will asked in surprised. She honestly didn't have a reason, but she couldn't tell Cornelia that. She caught Cornelia watching her and finally just sort of shrugged. "I don't really have a reason", she said in a helpless sort of way, "Just wanted to make sure you're…well, make sure your okay"

Cornelia smiled a sad sort of smile and walked over to her desk. She rubbed Caleb's petals in a thoughtful sort of way, obviously stalling for time. "I'm fine", she said finally, "Believe it or not"

"I don't believe it", Will said quietly, "I don't think you expected me to though"

Cornelia shook her head and continued smiling in that sad and thoughtful sort of way. For awhile the two of them were lost in their own thoughts, until Will finally got up the courage to ask what she had been wondering for so long.

"Cornelia, do you hate me?"

Cornelia looked around, surprised, "I…no", she said after a second, "Of course not Will. I could never hate you. I was just mad when I said that. I was even madder afterwards, when Irma told me you had run away. I guess I sort of felt like it was my fault"

"It wasn't", Will said at once, "When I left…well, everything had just sort of hit at once, and…I dunno, I just sort of fell apart, you might say. It didn't have anything to do with you though"  
"Yea right", Will could tell Cornelia didn't believe her. She wasn't sure she believed herself.

"Well…" Will said after a second, "I should get going. Are you going to be back in school anytime soon?"  
"I…I'm not sure", Cornelia said after thinking about it. She stroked Caleb's petals again, and a pang of guilt went through Will.

"Well…I'll see you around then", she turned to leave.

"Thanks for coming Will", she heard Cornelia say as she shut the door.

The talk with Cornelia had given Will quite a bit to think about. Her head was starting to hurt, but she was still already going through everything that had happened in her head. And finally, her mind drifted back to Irma, Taranee, and Hay Lin. 

_Are we really still friends?_

* * *


	3. A Stronger Friendship

* * *

Okay, sorry for the long wait on the update, I've been pretty busy. But I'm updating, and that's all that matters! Okay, on with the story!

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**Chapter 3**- A Stronger Friendship

**Hay Lin's POV**

Hay Lin shook her head hopelessly. _If it isn't Irma and Cornelia fighting, it's Cornelia and Will fighting. If it isn't Cornelia and Will fighting, it's Will and Irma. I can't win!_

She exchanged looks with Taranee, who looked just as upset as she was. Neither of them had talked to Will since she'd come back to school. While they were determined not to take sides, they had ended up hanging around Irma a lot more than they were Will, and they were starting to get mad. They didn't want to be between their two best friends. Hadn't they gone through enough of that when Will, Irma, and Cornelia had all been fighting? They were tired of being in the middle.

"Thought of anything yet?" Taranee asked, breaking her thoughts.

"Yea", Hay Lin said, sitting up, "I think it's too hard to think"

The two were hanging out in Hay Lin's room. Irma had gone home right after school, and they hadn't been able to grab Will before she took off as well. So they'd agreed to just go over Hay Lin's and try to think up a way to get Irma and Will to talk to each other.

"I have an idea!" Taranee said suddenly, once again breaking through Hay Lin's thoughts.

"What?"

"It's so simple, I can't believe we didn't think of it before", Taranee said, "So here's what we do…"

* * *

"Hello, Mrs. Vandom?" Hay Lin was saying half an hour later, "Yes, this is Hay Lin, is Will there?"  
"Sure, just a sec Hay Lin", Will's mother said airily.

"Okay", Hay Lin gave Taranee a wink. It'd taken them about half an hour to figure out what to say to Will and Irma. But they'd finally come up with some thing good to say.

"Hi Will!" she said in a chirpy voice, "Whatsup?"  
"Nothing", Will's depressed sounding voice came over the line, "Why?"  
"I was wondering if you wanted to come over", Hay Lin said carefully, "My mother made a batch of cookies, too many for Taranee and I to eat on our own. And I know you love cookies…"  
"Okay", Hay Lin cheered silently. She was banking on Will's sweet tooth taking over. She told Will she'd see her in a few minutes and hung up.

"One down", Taranee guessed.

"Yup", Hay Lin nodded, "Okay, Irma…"

She dialed Irma's number, "Hello, Mrs. Lair? May I talk to Irma?"  
"Sure Hay Lin, hang on a sec"

Hay Lin gave Taranee a thumbs up, "Hello?" Irma's voice came over the line.

"Hey Irma!" Hay Lin chirped, "Guess what?"  
"What?" Irma asked boredly.

"I got the new _Boy Comet_ DVD!"

"What?.!" Suddenly, Irma didn't sound so bored.

"It's true!" Hay Lin said, "Wanna come over and watch it?"  
"Well duh!" Irma cried, "I'll be over in five, at the most!"

She hung up without another word. "Two down", Hay Lin grinned, hanging up, "So exactly at are we going to say to them?"

"We're just going to say that for the sake of the team we need to stay together", Taranee said, "And we also need to come up with a way to get Cornelia to talk to us, so we're going to need the four of us together to do it. We can pull that off, I suppose"

"No sweat", Hay Lin said at once, "After everything else we've been through? This'll be a breeze"

"Good point"

The girls waited five minutes, and finally Irma burst into the room, "Where's the DVD?.!"

Hay Lin laughed, "You'll see", she assured the frantic girl, "I ordered pizza, we'll watch the DVD as soon as it gets here"

"Okay!" Irma said excitedly, "Oh, hi Taranee"  
"Hi Irma", Taranee said, trying not to laugh.

"Thanks Mrs. Lin", Will's voice drifted in as the red-head herself stepped into the room, "Hey guys--"  
She stopped short at seeing Irma.

"What's she doing here?" Will and Irma said at the same time. Taranee and Hay Lin exchanged a glance.

"Okay", Hay Lin said, standing up, "I'll be the first to admit it; we lured you here under false pretenses"

"You what?" Irma asked.

"We tricked you", Taranee said, "There is no DVD, and there are no cookies"  
"Not yet anyway", Hay Lin shrugged, "My mom is making some now--"

"Save it Hay-Hay", Irma snapped, "I'm outta here"  
"My thoughts exactly", Will said, turning to leave. Hay Lin, thinking fast, waved her hand. A stream of air flowed through the room, and the door slammed shut. Will jumped back, and looked around at the air guardian, "What?"  
"We brought you both here to talk", Taranee pointed out, "We've given you guys time to get over your fight. Now give us time to get you to make up"

"Right", Hay Lin nodded, "Give us a chance, please. Give us five minutes, and then you can hate us for the rest of your life if you want"

Will and Irma glared at her and Taranee for a second, and then gave each other a loathing glare, "Okay", they finally said at the same time. Irma took a seat on Hay Lin's bed. While Will opted for finding a bare spot on the floor.

"Okay", Taranee said, "The thing is, splitting up like this, we don't think it's a good idea"  
"Right", Hay Lin continued, "Before all of this happened, weren't we pretty good friends?"  
"That was before Will--"  
"No", Taranee cut in, "Irma and Will, you're not allowed to talk. You can talk when our five minutes up, got it?"  
They both nodded, "Good", Hay Lin said, "Anyways, weren't we friends?"  
Another nod from both girls, "Before we even found out we were guardians, we were pretty close, weren't we?"

Again, they nodded, "We barely knew Will and Taranee", Hay Lin said, "But still, we were all really good friends, right?"  
It was easy to tell Irma and Will were tired of nodding, "So why can't we go back to that?" Hay Lin concluded.

"Yea", Taranee said, "Even if we had never become guardians, I'd still want to be friends with you guys, you know what I mean?"

They nodded, "So", Hay Lin said, "Lets pretend for a second we'd never become guardians. Lets pretend Elyon was really our friend, not a spy, and lets pretend Phobos didn't exist. We'd be some pretty tight knit friends wouldn't we?"

"Yea", Taranee nodded, "So, back in reality, can't we still be like that? Can't we be friends?"

Silence, "Our five minutes was up three minutes ago", Hay Lin pointed out, "You can talk now"

Irma and Will both exploded into conversation, "Okay, scratch that!", Hay Lin cried, "Talk one at a time please. I'll point to one of you, and you talk. And no interrupting, got it?"

They nodded, "Okay", Hay Lin said, "Irma"  
"We may have been friends before we became guardians", Irma said at once, "But that was before Will stopped believing in friendship!"  
"Now wait just one second--"  
"Will", Hay Lin said at once, "I thought I said don't interrupt? Come on, Taranee and I are trying to prove something here, give us a hand"  
"Can I say something?" Taranee asked.

"Sure", Irma, Will, and Hay Lin said at the same time.

"Well", Taranee said carefully, "The thing is, even after we became guardians, we were still friends. In fact, all this fighting started after we beat Phobos. Did anyone else notice that?"  
Will and Irma gave each other guilty looks and nodded. "So", Hay Lin said, "Will, Irma said something about you not believing in friendship anymore. That's not true, is it?"  
"Well, I…" Will hesitated, "I'm not sure, okay? I mean, I thought about it a lot, and I just don't know what to say"

Irma suddenly looked uncomfortable, "Um, look, Will, what I said, earlier…I mean, I know, you went through a lot, I guess I just…I wasn't thinking--"  
"Forget it", Will said at once, standing up, "Nice try Hay Lin and Taranee. I gotta go though, see you guys at school tomorrow, bye"  
"Will, wait!" Irma scrambled up as Will left and took off after her. Hay Lin and Taranee exchanged looks and took off after them. Evidently Will moved faster than they thought, because she was already outside before they caught her.

"Will!" Irma said, running in front of her, "Wait. I'm sorry, okay? I'm sorry about what I said, really, I am! I was wrong, and I wasn't being fair, I wasn't thinking, after what happened in the woods with Cedric, I'd be a bit freaked to, I'd say things like that, I should have thought about how you were feeling. But after everything we've been through, I've seen you bounce back a lot, I figured you could just bounce back from this to. I really am sorry, but I don't blame if you don't want to forgive me"

Hay Lin and Taranee's jaws were practically on the ground. They'd never seen Irma get so emotional. _Never_. They looked at Will for her reaction, and were surprised to see tears in her eyes.

"Will?" Hay Lin put her hand on the red-head's shoulder, "You okay?"  
She closed her eyes and shook her head, "I'm sorry to", she said quietly, "For everything"

Hay Lin broke into a grin. She looked over at Taranee, who was also smiling, and then looked at Irma. She was grinning widely. "Group hug!" Hay Lin said finally. Irma and Taranee quickly joined, and even Will managed a smile through her tears as the friends hugged each other. Hay Lin shot Taranee a smile.

_That worked out better than we thought, didn't it?_

Hay Lin's eyes grew wide, _Taranee?_  
_Who else can talk to you in your head? _Taranee asked, giving her a smile.

_But how_? Hay Lin asked, bewildered, _I thought because our powers were diminishing you couldn't do that anymore!_  
_I know!_ Taranee thought, _so did I! But when Will and Irma made up, I felt like I could just…do it, you know?_

"Of course!" Hay Lin said out loud, "Because our friendship's been repaired, our powers are growing stronger! This is great!"

"What in the world are you talking about Hay Lin?" Irma asked, confused.

"No time", Hay Lin said, grabbing Irma by the arm and somehow managing to grab Will and Taranee at the same time, "We have one more job to do before we can really be done. To Cornelia's!"

* * *

"Hay Lin, you're not listening", Irma said, "Cornelia made it very clear she never wants to see me again, can't I just wait outside?"  
"No", Hay Lin said at once, "I have a good feeling about this, okay? I know we can do this. Maybe Cornelia doesn't want to see you, but it doesn't matter. This just feels like something we have to do, you know? And we have to do it as a team"

"But Hay Lin, Cornelia hates me"  
"No she doesn't", Taranee said, "Give us a chance Irma"  
"Hello girls", Mrs. Hale said, opening to door, "So nice to see you again. Cornelia's up in her room. Oh…" she caught sight of Irma, "Um, Irma, I hate to do this, but Cornelia said she'd rather you didn't visit her anymore…"  
"Um, please let her come with us Mrs. Hale", Hay Lin said, "We really need to talk to her as a group, please…"  
"Well, okay", Mrs. Hale said doubtfully, "Go on"  
"Wow, you must have really gotten Cornelia steamed", Will said, "What in the world did you do?"  
"Don't ask"  
"Cornelia?" Taranee knocked carefully on the door, "Cornelia, it's us, can we talk?"  
The door flew open, "You, you, and you", she pointed to Will, Taranee, and Hay Lin, "_She_-" she pointed to Cornelia, "Has to leave"

"Please Cornelia", Hay Lin said, "We really have to talk to you. _All_ of us", she added pointedly.

"Well…" Cornelia hesitated, "Fine. But one dig at Caleb or I, Irma", she said warningly, "And you're outta here, got it?"  
Irma nodded, and the girls stepped inside Cornelia's room. "So", Cornelia said, "What do you want?"  
"Well", Hay Lin said carefully, "We really need to talk Cornelia. We understand that your upset about loosing Caleb and Elyon--"  
"But we still have a job to do", Will finished, "I know it's hard, Elyon was your best friend, and we understand that. But best friend or not-"  
"We still have to fight", Taranee concluded, "It's our job, you know that, and as much as you may not like it--"  
"It's what we have to do", Irma picked up strongly.

"What, did you guys rehearse this?" Cornelia asked, half jokingly.

"Actually, we're just making this up as we go along", Irma said, "So whatta you think so far?"

"I think you're pretty pathetic", she said, smiling. She carefully patted Caleb's petals, "But …I guess you're right"  
"We are?"

"I guess, I knew that all along", she continued, "Even when Irma was talking to me, as mean and blunt as she was, I guess I knew deep down she was right

"I mean, I don't want to fight Elyon", she plowed on, "She's been my best friend for as long as I can remember. But if it's what we have to do…"

She stood up and walked over to the window, looking out into the city, "This is our home, isn't it?" she said. They saw her reflection in the window; she was smiling.

"We have to protect this place, don't we?" she continued, "Heatherfield", she continued to look out the window, "Our home. But if Phobos has his way--"  
"It won't be our home anymore", the words had sounded familiar to Hay Lin. And she knew why. They were the exact same words she'd told Will, after Will's mom had been in the car accident. Will had entered her own little world, and Hay Lin had pulled her out, by saying exactly what Cornelia had just said.

"Right", Cornelia nodded, "So even if I have to fight my best friend…well, bring it on Elyon. I'll fight, even if I won't like it. Because I have to protect Heatherfield. With you guys. With my friends"  
She turned around to face them, her eyes shining brightly.

"We've gotta stick together"

"So you don't hate me?" Irma asked anxiously.

"Not most of the time", Cornelia shrugged. Irma laughed.

"I'll take it"

"It's settled!" Hay Lin cheered, "We _are_ the best! High five Taranee!"

The two girls exchanged high fives, grinning. Irma gave Cornelia a smirk, and said, "So?"  
"So what?"

"Very funny", Irma said sarcastically, "You know how we have to hug, right?"

"We do?" Cornelia asked, "I don't know…"  
"Oh get over here", Irma grabbed Cornelia by the shoulder and pulled her and the other girls into a group hug. No matter what laid ahead, right then they had a golden moment of peace. As friends.

* * *

Uh huh, and how long will that last? One chapter, two maybe? I don't know…wait, I should know these things, shouldn't I? Oh well, we'll see what happens next, stay tuned! The next update will definitely come faster! Review!

* * *


	4. Avoiding Reality

* * *

Ack! Oh, oh, oh, it has been forever since I updated! I'm very, very, _very_ sorry! I've been so busy it's so unreal! Anyone who enjoys reading this, I'm sorry I haven't updated, if I have any reviewers left it'll be a miracle! Oh well, lets get this going. Last chapter the girls finally made up with each other, so how long will that last? Lets find out!

* * *

**Chapter 4**- Avoiding Reality

Will twiddled her pencil in her hand an doodled boredly in her notebook. She was so sick of school, and she had been back for three days. _Is it possible to be this bored?_ She thought, looking down at her notebook. She had unconsciously doodled the name Matt in her book. She quickly scribbled it out and looked at the clock. Two minutes. She heaved a sigh and looked back at the board. She hadn't paid one bit of attention to the teacher's lecture, and she was going to regret come test time, but what did the world want from her? She had enough trouble on her hands at the moment—

_BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!_

"Finally", she muttered, grabbing her bag and practically running out of the classroom. And running right into Hay Lin.

"Ouch!" Hay Lin rubbed her head as she sat up, "That smarts. Funny running into you Will"  
"Oh you're funny", Will said sarcastically, helping Hay Lin stand up, "You okay?"  
"Never better", she laughed, "Wanna come over my house? Irma's coming, but I'm not sure I can take and hour and a half of Irma's jokes"  
"I can barely take five minutes", Will admitted jokingly, "Lets go"

The girls talked aimlessly the whole way to Hay Lin's, going on about the little things: their least favorite teacher, what this kid did during class that day, who had detention (surprisingly Irma wasn't on the list), just random chattering.

"Hey Mom", Hay Lin said as they made their way into the Silver Dragon.

"Hey sweetie", her mom said, looking up from the cash register, where she was counting money, "Irma's already upstairs waiting for you. Oh, hello Will"  
"Hi Mrs. Lin", Will said as she followed Hay Lin upstairs.

"Hey", Irma said as the two walked in, "Where've you been? Feels like I've been here forever", she attempted to stand up and then fell back on the bed, clutching her back and groaning, "My body forgot what it was like to move, how can you keep someone waiting for so long?"  
"Irma you spend too much time in front of the TV", Hay Lin said, "If your body can remember how to move after a _Boy Comet_ marathon, it can remember how to move after waiting a few extra minutes for us"  
"Busted", she giggled and grinned, "Okay, okay"

It was a pretty enjoyable visit for the girls. Mrs. Lin made some cookies for them, they listened to a few CD's, they did what any normal girls would do. Even though they all knew they had way bigger things to deal with. Right then, they just wanted to be normal. "Shouldn't we start focusing on the guardian thing again?" Hay Lin asked Will quietly when Irma left. She stood up and grabbed her bag, preparing to leave as well.

"What can we do?" she asked, "Until they make a move, there's nothing we can do, just wait and see what happens"  
"I hate not knowing what to do or what's going to happen", Hay Lin complained, "But you're right, until something actually happens, we're stuck"  
"I know how you feel Hay Lin", Will sighed, "See you tomorrow"

"Bye Will"

She wandered home lost in a fog. There was a lot depending on them. Like the world. And they didn't know what to do about it. The world was depending on them. Poor world.

"Hey Mom", she called as she walked into the apartment she shared with her mom.  
"Hey Will", her mom called back, "How was school?"  
"School", she flopped back on the couch, dropping her bag and sighing heavily.

"That was a pretty heavy sigh", her mom peaked in from the kitchen, "Anything you want to talk about?"  
"No", she pulled forward and grabbed the remote from the coffee table. Her mom sat down on the couch next to her.

"Will", she said after a second, "You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

"Of course", Will said. _I wish_, is what she thought.

"I mean it", she pushed, "You can tell me anything. I know I'm your mom, but that doesn't mean I'm not capable of understanding"  
"I know", Will put on a smile and looked over at her mom, "Don't worry Mom, I'm fine, really"  
"You sure?"  
"Of course", she pushed herself off the couch, "I'm going for a walk, I'll be back for supper, promise"  
She barely heard the distant, "Okay…" of her mom consent as she shut the door.

* * *

The park was empty. Perfect. Right then she really needed to be alone. Needed time to sort her thoughts, to think, to—

"If only I were a mind reader", a voice behind her mused. She whirled around.

"Elyon!"  
"Hello Will", her former friend said silkily, "Been busy?"

What do you want?" Will snapped, "Forget the chitchat Elyon. In fact, forget all of this. _Get lost_"

"Big words for someone with no friends at her side", Elyon said, walking around Will in a circle. Will turned to keep up with her.

"Your pretty brave too, not fighting with fifty or sixty castle guards around you", she back.

"I don't need guards", Elyon informed, "In the woods I took all four of your friends and beat them. I'm sure you remember that night in the woods Will, so close to dying…"  
She didn't show just how much the words shook her, "Cut to the chase Elyon. What do you want?"  
"Oh, nothing much", she said, "just some friends who understand me, maybe a new ring, and uh, oh yeah: the Heart of Candracar"  
"Oh, we uh oh yeah: forget it", Will shot back.

"Will", she whirled around to face her, "Don't you get it? If you give up the Heart of Candracar, everything will go back to normal. Normal friends, normal relationships, normal life. You want have to worry about the weight of the world being on your shoulders. You can be what you always wanted: normal"

Her words rang in Will's ears. Normal? She shook her head. No, no, Elyon was trying to trick her into giving up the Heart. Well it wasn't happening. "Don't you want to be normal?" Elyon simpered, "Isn't that what you always wanted?"  
_More than anything_ she wanted to say. She couldn't show weakness though. Elyon's eyes had a weird twinkle in them. She smirked. "You can give it all up Will", she said, "You can be normal. You don't have to do this anymore"  
_Normal_. It was all she ever wanted to be. She held up her right hand. She could make the Heart appear in this hand at any time she wanted. That wasn't normal. If she gave it to Elyon though…

"You can be normal Will"

She bit her lip. She could be normal. She wanted to be normal.

"Just give it to me Will", Elyon said, "That's it…"

* * *

Heeheehee, I could write more of this chapter, but I think I'll cut it off here. Do you think Will is going to give up the Heart? Everyone who answers correctly gets a cookie! So yeah, review!

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